How do I build this belly dancer?

[TwisT-Chi]

Finally found the belly dancer after more than 40 days in the desert. I've probably depopulated the nomads with how much I've been smashing their camps. Anyway here is the bro:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2989910799

I'm thinking making him a qatal duelist or fencer? I've never built any bro like this before.

[turtle225]

He could do either.

Qatal is more forgiving to build though and would be my preference personally. The low base hp, fatigue, and resolve are all more problematic for a Fencer, than for Qatal.

Qatal needs much less initiative than Fencers do, so you can have more rolls available to patch up the hp and resolve. Fatigue can also be comfortably ignored with the Qatal.

Looks like you've got a late game team full of famed gear, so you can probably be fine doing whatever you most feel like trying.

[TwisT-Chi]

Originally posted by turtle225:

He could do either.

Qatal is more forgiving to build though and would be my preference personally. The low base hp, fatigue, and resolve are all more problematic for a Fencer, than for Qatal.

Qatal needs much less initiative than Fencers do, so you can have more rolls available to patch up the hp and resolve. Fatigue can also be comfortably ignored with the Qatal.

Looks like you've got a late game team full of famed gear, so you can probably be fine doing whatever you most feel like trying.

Thanks! Qatal bro it is. Follow up question: how do I qatal? From what I can tell, there are a few variants like QH mace/qatal, pure qatal and qatal/nets.

[turtle225]

I usually do pure Qatal and then try if possible to stand them next to a Mace bro (preferably with Adrenaline) to set them up. I like to lean into the 3-attacks per turn with Overwhelm and Fearsome. Makes him very good at disabling dangerous enemies.

QH with a 2H Mace makes him to be more self sufficient, and allows for you to carry a 2-range weapon for more versatility which is also nice, though carrying both of those in the bag will cost about 14 fatigue. Getting the actual Mace slam -> Deathblow combo is kind of clunky, as it requires having the Mace out and 9AP ready to pull it off. Needing to move at all or missing with the Mace or starting your turn with the Qatal out all mess up the interaction. It can certainly work and be good, but I usually don't bother. There's enough room in the perks to easily fit QH in though so it's not like it's hard to go this route.

Anyway, here's a few examples. The first one is very greedy going for CS/Executioner instead of defensive perks. I wouldn't recommend that, but it was fun. Second one is safer, though I don't think Underdog is that great on Qatal if you play it as a 1v1 specialist which is where it excels (3 Overwhelm + 3 Fearsome does wonders).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2397152351

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2223289524

For me, the core perks would be Dodge, Relentless, Dagger, Overwhelm, Nimble, Duelist, and Fearsome. I also use Pathfinder on everyone so that's core for me, but I know not everyone cares for it. That leaves me with two perks to mess around with.

Defensive perks are probably the safer way to go with Colossus being the most preferable due to Nimble. Can't really go wrong with a second defensive perk, a stat perk, or QH. If you want to be spicy you can use Resilient to get a speedy bro immune to Hexen charms (by using "wait" after acting). Helps also against Goblins and some other fringe cases, but it's still a niche perk in the end.

As for stats, I like 120+ initiative after gear. That lets you outspeed most enemies. If you are using a Hyena attachment with a standard 15 weight Nimble armor then they offset, meaning your only fatigue penalty would come from any other weapons, shields, or items in your bag. Skill/Defense should be raised high of course. HP and Resolve to levels you feel comfortable with.

The only particularly bad matchup Qatal has is against Ancient Dead, as it classifies as a piercing weapon and they take half damage from it. Since you have a developed roster you can bench in these fights. If you go the QH Mace route then this weakness isn't a problem as you can just use the Mace.

[Mr Majestic]

I like Volke's build with Crippling Strike and Executioner. The Viper had a pretty good mDef (excluding Dodge!), so I wouldn't be too concerned with defensive skills. He's for things that bleed... might as well go all out, I say. Three Fearsome cuts per round AND Overwhelm regardless of damage is pretty funny. I should try one; I did find a magic Qatal, somewhere.

I'd probably skip the mace and position him next to a 2H mace wielder... -to whom I've recently gathered a measure of respect for, for disabling problematic enemy; ie. Fallen Heroes wielding 2H axes.

The only class I'd build for Hexen would be an archer. My Qatal fighter would probably spend some time on the bench. And truth be told, my favourite speciality brothers are glass cannon Warscythe or Handgonners due to being walking Mass Casualty Events... one day I hope to field 12 blade dancers, pirouetting across the battlefield, bathed in blood.

[Jean-Maurice Nya]

turtle, is the underdog perk useful with that much melee defense? If yes, against which kind of ennemies?
I mostly use this perk with lone wolf as I use my lone wolf to lure some ennemies away from the main party.
As for pathfinder, it's very useful for bros that are on sides in my opinion (and an "assassin/blade dancer/swormaster" archetype is usually there in my bands), ranged lads and for some second row fighters with long ranged weapons. High mobility with low fatigue yield is pretty good as we fight in many difficult terrain.

[turtle225]

Originally posted by Jean-Maurice Nya:

turtle, is the underdog perk useful with that much melee defense? If yes, against which kind of ennemies?
I mostly use this perk with lone wolf as I use my lone wolf to lure some ennemies away from the main party.

Underdog is stronger the more melee defense you have, as is the case with all melee defense boosting perks. For example, if you add ten defense that reduces an enemy hit chance from 20 to 10, then you've doubled your average survive-ability, but if your extra ten defense only lowers their hit chance from 50 to 40 then you've only increased your average survive-ability by 25%.

Mechanically, defense above 50 is halved, but in Underdog's case it gets around this because it doesn't raise your defense but instead prevents the opponent from getting bonus melee skill.

As for the enemy, it doesn't particularly matter. It provides value against anything that you fight in melee except 1v1s. It's more about positioning than enemies.

[Jean-Maurice Nya]

Yeah I understand. The fact that I play on Veteran and not Expert might influence my choice to avoid this perk for bros that won't have more than 2-3 ennemies around them as the surrounding situation rarely last more than 2 turns.
As for ennemies, they rarely are above 80% hit chances, so above 30-40 melee defense I'm usually confident on their survivability.

[TwisT-Chi]

@Turtle

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to build Sabti around your 2nd build. I prefer well-rounded builds over glass cannons myself.